1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sanitary protective liners for cooking grills, such as barbecue grills and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to liners made of foil that conform to the bar structure of the grill and are perforated to enable the free flow of gas and material across the plane of the grill.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When cooking upon a grill over an open flame or coals, the bars of the grill become covered with the burnt drippings of the food being cooked and carbon deposits from the below lying flame. Accordingly, the grill must be periodically cleaned. This required maintenance is time consuming and dirty work which discourages people from cooking upon grills.
Cooking upon a grill has many well known benefits. For instance, cooking on a grill adds a smoked flavor to the prepared food and cooking on a grill produces food with less fat content than if the food were fried. Such benefits are typically lost when many traditional liners are placed over a grill. For example, one of the most common types of liners traditionally used to cover grills is aluminum foil. The reason why aluminum foil is so commonly used is that it is easy to place on a grill of any size and easy to remove. However, the aluminum foil is solid, thereby preventing both gases from rising through the grill and fatty drippings from flowing away from the food. As is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,572 to Wassermann, entitled Tool For Applying A Protective Foil To The Individual Rods Of A Barbecue Grill, devices have been created in the prior art that cut aluminum foil into small pieces shaped to cover only rod structures of a grill. Such devices are useful, but the application and removal of aluminum foil applied in such a manner is still highly time consuming and labor intensive.
To avoid the time and labor involved in applying foil to the individual rods of a grill, a person may use a perforated structure such as a broiling pan grid, wherein the broiling pan grid can be placed directly over the grill. Such broiling pan grids are commonplace in the kitchen and are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 1,819,660 to Stone, entitled Broiling Device. The problem with such devices is that they rarely match the exact size of the below lying grill. As such, the cooking surface is typically reduced. Additionally, many such broiling pan grids are not disposable and must be cleaned, thereby defeating the original purpose of the grill cover.
Disposable liners have been invented for various items such as paint trays, baking dishes and the like. Such a liner is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,425 to Hirs, entitled Disposable Liner For Paint Booth Grating. The disadvantage of such liners is that they are configured to fit over a specifically shaped structure and cannot be applied to a structure of a different shape. Accordingly, such liners are not adaptable for use over cooking grills such as those found in barbecues since barbecue grills are manufactured in a large number of shapes and styles. Depending upon the manufacturer of a barbecue grill, the barbecue grill will have different bar sizes, different size spaces between bars, different cross bar configurations and different surface areas.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,097 to Rhee, entitled Disposable Liner For A Cooking Grill, a foil liner is described that is designed to cover the grill rods present in many modern barbecues. The liner is contoured and perforated to fit over a variety of cooking grill structures. However, the liner is uniformly perforated. As such, the liner allows drippings from the food to drip through the liner at all points.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,491 to Diller, entitled Disposable Barbeque Grill Shield discloses a foil liner that has a thin solid section in its center. The solid center section is flanked on both sides by large perforated areas. Accordingly, only a small strip of the foil liner is impermeable and the liner allows drippings from food to drip through the liner close to the center of the liner.
Many modern barbecue designs have burners located in the center of the barbecue. Metal baffles are placed over the burners that disperse the heat of the central burner. The baffles are typically located directly above the burner in the center of the barbecue. Since the heat baffles are directly above the open flame of the burners, the heat baffles become very hot. As a result, any fat that may drip onto the heat baffle has a tendency to ignite and burn.
There are also barbecues that use sloped cooking grills. In a barbecue with a sloped grill, the grill is typically sloped around a central burner so that most all points on the sloped grill are uniform in distance from the heat of the central burner.
It has been observed that many barbecues with central burners and/or sloped grills work better if fat drippings are prevented from dripping onto the heat baffles located over the burner. If fat drippings can be prevented from dripping onto the heat baffles, the drippings will not catch on fire and cause the barbecue to flare up and burn the food being cooked.
A problem exists in that prior art barbecue grill covers are either solid, and do not let drippings move away from the food, or the liners are uniformly perforated and allow drippings to fall onto surfaces where they might catch fire. A need therefore exists for a new type of barbecue liner that allows drippings to move away from the food being cooked, yet directs those drippings to designated areas within the barbecue where they will not catch on fire. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.